"We are incredibly disappointed in the decision to basically flatline core funding to Ohio's public schools. The legislature establishes this arbitrary core per pupil funding amount every biennium without any consideration to the increasing costs of the core components of strong public schools," said Ronda Johnson, Treasurer.

During the final days of the budget process, the district was waiting to see if some modest changes on TPP survived the governor's veto pen. They didn't.

“Our biggest disappointment and frustration still lies with the State's broken promise of TPP when the State took away local revenue and promised to hold public schools harmless. Just this year Mason lost another $1.7 million dollars. The lack of TPP replacement revenue combined with flatlined core funding will result in the need for additional local tax dollars,” said Johnson.

The District will continue to analyze the biennium budget impact against our five year forecast to plan for our financial stability.

The TPP tax was eliminated in 2005 and replaced with a broader-based Commercial Activities Tax (CAT) as a tax reform effort aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Ohio’s business climate. The CAT now generates on average $1.6 billion for the state of Ohio annually. Past legislative advocacy yielded changes in law that somewhat blunted the impact of the phase out, but those temporary measures did not solve the TPP problem for schools and students. Current law totally eliminates these dollars, shifting the entire burden for recouping these lost revenues to local communities.